While Pentagon officials are not willing to publicly weigh in on the emerging plans by President-elect Donald Trump to purge the military's ranks of many top officers, the Defense Department's spokeswoman says that removing a slew of admirals and generals would have serious impacts on missions and readiness.

"I'm not going to speak for the incoming administration or speak to any hypotheticals on what they will and won't do," Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters Thursday.

However, Singh did say that the idea of a sudden departure of multiple top leaders was something that the Pentagon already faced last year, when Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., held up hundreds of military promotions

Read Next: Military Suicides Rose in 2023, Continuing Upward Trend Pentagon Sees as 'Real Change'^[1]

"You remember the time when we had a significant amount of holds on our general and flag officers," Singh said, referencing the roughly 10-month hold by Tuberville.

Tuberville placed a hold on all general and flag officer nominees in February in an effort to pressure the Pentagon to reverse its policy of covering travel and leave for service members who seek abortions.

Tuberville's hold gradually ballooned to cover more than 450 top leaders inside the Pentagon as he refused to relent despite arguments from Democrats, some Republicans, Pentagon officials and military families that he was harming national security and punishing military families for a policy they had no control over.

Singh said that this hold -- which effectively deprived the military of hundreds of generals and admirals -- could be analogous to the plans that are now coming from the Trump transition team.

"That's going to have an impact to operations, that's going to have an impact on morale, and that is going to have an impact on the department," Singh said, speaking on Tuberville's hold.

The idea of reviewing top generals and admirals became public on Tuesday, when The Wall Street Journal reported^[2] that a draft executive order is being considered by the Trump transition team that would establish a "warrior board" that would review three- and four-star officers to determine whether they should continue to serve.

The proposal calls from conservative think tanks, lawmakers and Trump to weed out supposedly "woke" generals -- a term that has become overused to the point that it has lost much of its meaning. In this context, however, it seems to be broadly defined as officials who have promoted diversity in the ranks or supported the mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations.

On Wednesday, Reuters also reported^[3] that members of Trump's transition team were also drawing up a list of military officers -- likely focused heavily on officers close to now-retired Gen. Mark Milley, who served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff -- to be fired.

In speaking with current and former generals, Military.com^[4] found that they are concerned that the move will make their work much harder and politicize a force that is already struggling to stay outside the political fray.

"It could be very hard to do our job if we have to constantly be making sure we're appeasing someone on a political or partisan level," one currently serving Army^[5] lieutenant general told Military.com earlier this week.

Officials in the Pentagon also noted that the idea that current three- and four-star leaders are somehow suddenly unqualified to lead is curious, given how much selection and vetting they go through to rise through the ranks.

Congress votes on every officer's promotion from O-4, major or lieutenant commander, all the way to general or admiral. Additionally, each service mandates various screenings and selection processes itself that only increase as a service member moves up the ranks.

Aside from the operational impacts a proposed purge would have, it is likely to also force junior and mid-grade officers to rethink their careers in the military.

Amid Tuberville's hold, the four service secretaries wrote an editorial^[6] where they noted that "the generals and admirals who will be leading our forces a decade from now are colonels and captains today," and "they are watching this spectacle and might conclude that their service at the highest ranks of our military is no longer valued by members of Congress or, by extension, the American public."

But so far the Pentagon has made no public comment on the Trump transition team plans to purge military leadership.

"Again, I'm not going to speak to the hypothetical of what you're referencing," Singh said when asked about the potential Trump policies. "Whenever you have or put a strain on the system where there are not enough people in a position, or not enough people sharing the burden of work, of course, it's going to strain the system."

Related: 'It Could Be Very Hard to Do Our Job': Top Military Officers Brace for Trump's Potential Loyalty Review Boards^[7]

While Pentagon officials are not willing to publicly weigh in on the emerging plans by President-elect Donald Trump to purge the military's ranks of many top officers, the Defense Department's spokeswoman says that removing a slew of admirals and generals would have serious impacts on missions and readiness.

"I'm not going to speak for the incoming administration or speak to any hypotheticals on what they will and won't do," Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters Thursday.

However, Singh did say that the idea of a sudden departure of multiple top leaders was something that the Pentagon already faced last year, when Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., held up hundreds of military promotions

Read Next: Military Suicides Rose in 2023, Continuing Upward Trend Pentagon Sees as 'Real Change'^[1]

"You remember the time when we had a significant amount of holds on our general and flag officers," Singh said, referencing the roughly 10-month hold by Tuberville.

Tuberville placed a hold on all general and flag officer nominees in February in an effort to pressure the Pentagon to reverse its policy of covering travel and leave for service members who seek abortions.

Tuberville's hold gradually ballooned to cover more than 450 top leaders inside the Pentagon as he refused to relent despite arguments from Democrats, some Republicans, Pentagon officials and military families that he was harming national security and punishing military families for a policy they had no control over.

Singh said that this hold -- which effectively deprived the military of hundreds of generals and admirals -- could be analogous to the plans that are now coming from the Trump transition team.

"That's going to have an impact to operations, that's going to have an impact on morale, and that is going to have an impact on the department," Singh said, speaking on Tuberville's hold.

The idea of reviewing top generals and admirals became public on Tuesday, when The Wall Street Journal reported^[2] that a draft executive order is being considered by the Trump transition team that would establish a "warrior board" that would review three- and four-star officers to determine whether they should continue to serve.

The proposal calls from conservative think tanks, lawmakers and Trump to weed out supposedly "woke" generals -- a term that has become overused to the point that it has lost much of its meaning. In this context, however, it seems to be broadly defined as officials who have promoted diversity in the ranks or supported the mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations.

On Wednesday, Reuters also reported^[3] that members of Trump's transition team were also drawing up a list of military officers -- likely focused heavily on officers close to now-retired Gen. Mark Milley, who served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff -- to be fired.

In speaking with current and former generals, Military.com^[4] found that they are concerned that the move will make their work much harder and politicize a force that is already struggling to stay outside the political fray.

"It could be very hard to do our job if we have to constantly be making sure we're appeasing someone on a political or partisan level," one currently serving Army^[5] lieutenant general told Military.com earlier this week.

Officials in the Pentagon also noted that the idea that current three- and four-star leaders are somehow suddenly unqualified to lead is curious, given how much selection and vetting they go through to rise through the ranks.

Congress votes on every officer's promotion from O-4, major or lieutenant commander, all the way to general or admiral. Additionally, each service mandates various screenings and selection processes itself that only increase as a service member moves up the ranks.

Aside from the operational impacts a proposed purge would have, it is likely to also force junior and mid-grade officers to rethink their careers in the military.

Amid Tuberville's hold, the four service secretaries wrote an editorial^[6] where they noted that "the generals and admirals who will be leading our forces a decade from now are colonels and captains today," and "they are watching this spectacle and might conclude that their service at the highest ranks of our military is no longer valued by members of Congress or, by extension, the American public."

But so far the Pentagon has made no public comment on the Trump transition team plans to purge military leadership.

"Again, I'm not going to speak to the hypothetical of what you're referencing," Singh said when asked about the potential Trump policies. "Whenever you have or put a strain on the system where there are not enough people in a position, or not enough people sharing the burden of work, of course, it's going to strain the system."

Related: 'It Could Be Very Hard to Do Our Job': Top Military Officers Brace for Trump's Potential Loyalty Review Boards^[7]

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon's latest report on UFOs has revealed hundreds of new reports of unidentified and unexplained aerial phenomena but no indications suggesting an extraterrestrial origin.

The review includes hundreds of cases of misidentified balloons, birds and satellites as well as some that defy easy explanation, such as a near-miss between a commercial airliner and a mysterious object off the coast of New York.

While it isn't likely to settle any debates over the existence of alien life, the report^[1] reflects heightened public interest in the topic and the government's efforts to provide some answers^[2]. Its publication comes a day after House lawmakers called for greater government transparency during a hearing on unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAPs — the government's term for UFOs.

Federal efforts to study and identify^[3] UAPs have focused on potential threats to national security or air safety and not their science fiction aspects. Officials at the Pentagon office created in 2022 to track UAPs, known as the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office^[4], or AARO, have said there's no indication any of the cases they looked into have unearthly origins.

“It is important to underscore that, to date, AARO has discovered no evidence of extraterrestrial beings, activity, or technology,” the authors of the report wrote.

The Pentagon’s review covered 757 cases from around the world that were reported to U.S. authorities from May 1, 2023, to June 1, 2024. The total includes 272 incidents that occurred before that time period but had not been previously reported.

The great majority of the reported incidents occurred in airspace, but 49 occurred at altitudes estimated to be at least 100 kilometers (62 miles), which is considered space. None occurred underwater. Reporting witnesses included commercial and military pilots as well as ground-based observers.

Investigators found explanations for nearly 300 of the incidents. In many cases, the unknown objects were found to be balloons, birds, aircraft, drones or satellites. According to the report, Elon Musk's Starlink satellite system^[5] is one increasingly common source as people mistake chains of satellites for UFOs.

Hundreds of other cases remain unexplained, though the report's authors stressed that is often because there isn't enough information to draw firm conclusions.

No injuries or crashes were reported in any of the incidents, though a commercial flight crew reported one near miss with a “cylindrical object” while flying over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of New York. That incident remains under investigation.

In three other cases, military air crews reported being followed or shadowed by unidentified aircraft, though investigators could find no evidence to link the activity to a foreign power.

For witnesses who provided visual descriptions, unidentified lights or round, spherical or orb-shaped objects were commonly reported. Other reports included a witness who reported a jellyfish with flashing lights.

During Wednesday's hearing on UAPs, lawmakers heard testimony from several expert witnesses who have studied the phenomena, including two former military officers. The discussion included fanciful questions about alien intelligence and military research using alien technology^[6] as well as concerns that foreign powers may be using secret aircraft to spy on U.S. military installations.

Lawmakers said the many questions about UAPs show the need for the government to closely study the issue — and share those findings with Americans.

“There is something out there,” said Republican Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee. “The question is: Is it ours, is it someone else's, or is it otherworldly?”